I should have known that the ’68-’70 Charger’s roof “sails” were just added to the Coronet’s roof, and here’s the proof, in this shot by Matt Wilda. And of course that seam is vulnerable to rust when hidden under a vinyl top.
Here’s a close-up picture of another one, before it was repaired:
That’s ugly. Vinyl roofs have a lot to account for.
Vinyl roofs are ugly and pointless.
Also I had no idea the Dodge Charger was a compact. Maybe it is now from all the metal it lost from rust?
Ugly, but not necessarily completely pointless. They can cover up a multitude of sins, such as ugly seams. It’s like, choose your ugliness.
Ford Australia used the vinyl roof to to hide some scars on their Landau in 1973. I don’t mind vinyl roofs on some cars.
I can’t imagine my Skylark without its. And it’s less area to polish. I did get lucky. Mine had the usual A body rust around the windscreen & rear windows, the roof was pristine.
This is one of those things I had never thought about, but now makes complete sense.
And that second shot is one rusty roof!
That second one was repaired? Looks rather irreparable to me.
REpairable? certainly, easy no.
Repairable.
You should check out the two Chargers restored on the Nick’s Garage U-Tube channel. The latest Charger project was in very rough shape all over. Yet, through the creative effort of a Montreal area body shop the car is something to behold now.
Eek!
FYI Coronets actually have that seem too. It’s a leaded seem also. I was assigned a 70 Coronet hardtop in Autobody trade school many years ago.
That’s the seam where the quarters are joined to the roof panels, the sails are one a piece stamping with the quarter, it’s not at all like the Mexico/Brazil Dart sail panel extensions
Aha. Always more to learn…
Very nice, and it seems like a great CC would be to research and find when the roof commonaility between auto divisions began. I’m going to guess it started at GM since they had the most divisions at any given time and were the champions of the annual model changeover. IOW, the roof and most (if not all) of the window glass were the only limiting factor that a specific division’s stylists had to adhere to when coming up with new designs.
But, then, along came bean-counter Roger Smith. Common sheetmetal was added and the only thing that separated models were the grilles and tailights. Add in common engines, and there wasn’t exactly a lot of reason to pay extra for the next tier up on the Sloan ladder. Soon enough, the Pontiac and Oldsmobile middle divisions would become history.
When I took the vinyl off my Polara there were only two places where there was rust. One around bolt holes for attaching the trim that surrounded the vinyl as is very typical. The only other location was the seam where they hide the seam with body filler which absorbs moisture.
My 1969 Charger (subject of an earlier COAL) had that seam. The vinyl roof had been removed at some point in the car’s past, and the seam smoothed over with body filler, but it was clearly visible in good light. Vinyl tops seemed common on 68-70 Chargers and B-bodies in general, and while they were an extra-cost option, I’ve always wondered if it was actually cheaper for the factory to slap on a vinyl covering than to finish the seams.
As a child in the 60’s when vinyl roofs came out, I was impressed by them. Over the years I’ve been less impressed with the concept of upholstering the exterior of a car. Much less so when I found out they didn’t even paint the bare metal before upholstering it.
I understand cars are built to make money for the manufacturer, not us potential buyers, but jeez, why not throw in a ticking time bomb set to go off in 8 years? Oh, that’s right, if intentional it would be added cost, even if the new car sales then made more money. Company/corporate good will might not buy much, but I bet bad will costs a ton. Once burned, twice shy? It is with me.